Are you a writer or artist wondering how you could ever afford to self publish a book? As long as you have a bit of a following already, you could potentially raise funds using sites like Kickstarter. But what you may not know is that there’s a crowd-sourcing site a lot like Kickstarter specifically designed for books. You should give it a try!

Unbound is the book crowd-sourcing specialist, helping writers to gain all-important funding to pay for editors, cover art and marketing. Once the book is funded and ready to buy, Unbound also help to sell the books, too. In other words, if you can spread the word about your fundraising and gain the support of your fans, what have you got to lose? Get funding!

How Does Unbound Work?

Unbound work as both the crowd-sourcing fund site and the publishing house. User pledges fund the publication of the book before it is created, so Unbound can immediately publish the book and distribute it as soon as it’s completed.

Unbound For Funders

If you just want to support independent writing talent, the Unbound site is a good way to browse and fund the new ideas people are coming up with. Small pledges may get you a copy of the eBook when completed, whereas larger pledges may entitle you to have your name in the back of the book, receive a printed copy, go to a launch or even have lunch with the author.

The shipping costs of printed books is included in your pledge for books sent within the UK and £5 for most books sent to other countries. Also note that opening launches and lunches with the author are hosted in the UK, so you’ll have to make your own way there in order to participate.

If you pledge an amount and the project doesn’t receive sufficient funding to go ahead, you may opt for a refund or consider allocating that pledge to another project. It’s obviously a cunning way for Unbound to keep funds in their system, but it just might work as there are so many great projects to fund.

When you pledge towards a book, you also get access to the author’s “shed” on Unbound. This is where the author can share updates on the book’s progress, show you interviews and let you read chapters in advance of the release.

Unbound For Writers

If you want to get a book funded or printed via Unbound you’ll need to pitch your idea to them. Send them your pitch with an excerpt of the book and your bio and they’ll be in touch. All the finer details are here. They also take applications via ABCtales and Jottify.

Once you’re listed on Unbound you can reach out to your fans to support your book and pledge their money. Since your supporters can easily see exactly what they’ll get for certain amounts of money, they know there is value in contributing.

More On Book Publishing

If you’re considering self-publishing a book, you might also like to read these articles:

This is awesome Angela. I found myself looking at Kickstarter as a way to fund an e-book project I've been considering, but I think this is a better option. I love that they take care of printing for you too. Nice!